Chapter 26 Lemon
Lemon
“You’re doing well, Lemon.” Letitia sniffs at the bubbling potion in my pot.
I hold back the whoop of joy I could let out at the rare praise from my prickly boss. After stirring the potion three more times, I carefully set the spoon down beside the cauldron. “Thank you. This needs to simmer for a few hours, but I’ll have it ready for you as soon as that’s done.”
She doesn’t smile exactly, but the edges of her lips tip softly upward as she clasps her hands at her waist. “I’ll let your father know how things are going, but I feel comfortable to move along to another potion.”
I nod, trying not to look overjoyed at her acceptance of my work.
When she doesn’t move, I pull in a steadying breath. “Is there something else?”
She cocks her head to the side. “I’ve watched you, Miss Denton, and this is the third potion you’ve made for me with a rather convoluted set of instructions and a few steps that young potioneers often miss.
I’m trying to figure out how you fucked up as badly as you did, badly enough to be sent here. ”
I blanch, but she’s right. An internal debate rages about whether I share the truth or not. In the end, I opt for a watered-down version of it.
Crossing my arms, I force a careful expression.
“I had an assistant for that particular potion, and I knew assisting wasn’t his greatest love, that he didn’t really have the knack for it.
But I allowed it anyway, and he mixed up two critical ingredients.
For reasons unknown, I trusted him and didn’t double-check.
” I open my arms wide. “And here we are.”
I think about the message Hunter left me this morning, asking how I’m doing. Yet it was obvious from his tone of voice that he wasn’t calling to actually be helpful. A-hole.
Letitia nods slowly, sliding her hands into the wide sleeves of her robe.
“Rookie mistake, Miss Denton. One you’ll hopefully never make again.
Assistants turn potioneers lazy, many times, and you let that happen to you.
” Her expression softens. “But it doesn’t have to define you. You can move past it.”
I sigh, surprised at her opening up to me. “I’d love to move past it, and I know father foisted me upon you, which you haven’t loved…but I swear I will do my best to represent Glimmer with care.”
She inclines her head, eyes landing on the softly bubbling potion at my side. “See that you do, Miss Denton.” Turning, she flutters across the room and out the door.
I release a breath when she’s gone. Oh my gods, it was almost pleasant.
I’m making progress with her. I’d almost like to call Hunter and gloat but I haven’t called him back since I arrived.
Not that I don’t think about him often. It’s just been nice not to talk to him or my father over the last few weeks.
I’ve barely talked to my girlfriends, either. I’ve been hiding out here in the Gulch and if I’m honest with myself, it’s been a breath of fresh air in some respects.
Despite the investigation and whatnot.
After grabbing a handful of firewood, I bank the fire beneath the cauldron enough to keep it going for the next three hours without burning. As much fun as watching potions boil sounds, I need lunch, and I can’t wait to tell Furyon what just happened.
Realizing he’s the first person I think of gives me pause. What he said last night at the event replayed in my head all morning. I leave the potions room and walk through the maze of other rooms until I get up to the front of the building.
Outside, Furyon stands there with both hands in his front pockets, his jean shirt unbuttoned a little farther than usual. The cowboy hat on his head sits neatly over both gorgeous horns. Horns I used last night as handlebars while I rode that pretty, sinful mouth in the jail cell.
A shudder races through me as I stare at him.
He stares back from under the brim of his black cowboy hat. “Miss Knox, you look ravishing in that dress.” He reaches for my hand and spins me. The weight of his gaze is as palpable as the hand holding mine.
He pulls me close and guides my head into his free hand, lips closing on a spot beneath my ear that makes everything inside me ache with need. “I’ve got a little surprise for you, Lemon. We’re taking lunch on the road, so to speak.”
I beam up at him. “That sounds great, Furyon.”
Grinning, he presses his lips to mine, stealing a kiss that feels more like a promise. I could have this all the time, this thing with him that’s more than what we’ve fully explored.
“Would you ever leave Pine Gulch?” I stare deeply into those gray eyes as I blurt out the question I’ve been wondering since the moment I licked his wound and it healed.
Dark lashes flutter against angular cheekbones.
“If that’s what you want, Lemon. If that’s what you need.
” He grips the back of my neck, holding me tight.
“But I’d rather put down roots here. Rather see you throwing feed to the chickens while wearing my shirt and nothing else.
You look good here, Lemon. You seem happy, even if this ain’t what you thought it was gonna be. ”
“I am happy.” The words leave me before I really absorb them.
But the moment I say them, I realize they’re true.
Pine Gulch is cozy and charming and friendly and every day I learn something new.
There’s so much more to it than I thought when I took my first stroll down Main Street.
What’s more…I feel free here in a way I’ve never been back home.
In the city, the Denton name hangs around my neck like a noose. I always thought it opened doors and created opportunities. I’m sure it did. But all of that came with a set of sky-high expectations and political wheeling and dealing. Not to mention living with my father and brother.
“Would you miss the city?” Furyon’s question comes in a neutral tone, but I know what he’s asking. Would I feel like I was giving up my life if I chose to stay?
I think about it for a moment, casting about for whatever I’d miss.
Finally, I shake my head. “I have friends there, friends who can easily visit the Gulch now that the Grand Portal Station is built at headquarters. And we could go there to visit too, right? You wouldn’t mind being taken by your pretty little vampire mate on a platform in a sex club, would you?”
His nostrils flare, and his grip on my throat grows tighter. “You’d show me off, Lemon? In front of others?”
I wink. “Isn’t that the vampire way?”
His fingers close tighter as black stars dance across my vision.
It feels so good.
His lips hover over mine, his breath warm as it coasts over my skin. “I’d let you destroy me in one of those clubs, mate. Or, if you’d rather, I’ll break you into a million pieces and put you back together, Lemon. Or both.”
“Why not both?” I manage with a groan. “Both sounds good.”
He licks his lips and lets go of my throat. “We can do that anytime you want, city girl. Anytime at all.”
I stare in wonder at the dark elf who’s so thoroughly invaded my heart and mind in the span of weeks. It’s almost laughable when I think back to how we met. What a story I’ll have to tell the girls next time I see them.
Oh yeah, he was investigating me for murder.
As if I’d ever be capable of doing that.
Furyon smiles down at me. “I do believe you’re gettin’ thoroughly countrified, Lemon.”
I wave at the new turquoise boots on my feet.
“I present Exhibit A. You’re right. The lovely woman at the Buxom Bodice assured me these are both beautiful and practical.
Not to mention the Bodice herself shimmied quite a bit when I landed on this color, so it was practically a unanimous decision.
” I thump his nose. “You told me it could only be one or the other when we met, I do believe.”
He snorts and grabs my hand, pulling me up the sidewalk. “Your sparkle boots ain’t that, Lemon.”
I shrug, clinging onto his hand as we walk around the corner to Main Street. “No, but you sure seem to enjoy them.”
At my saucy comment, all the siding on the closest buildings ripples. I take it for agreement, and beam up at Furyon.
I share my progress with Letitia as we walk all the way to the Welcome Inn, then dip into the alleyway on one side of it.
Furyon ducks through an arched stone doorway in the building next to the Welcome Inn.
A tiny light flickers in a sconce on the wall, illuminating a stone stairwell that descends into darkness.
“Furyon Aleksander Zayle, are you dragging me into a secret underground chamber for nefarious purposes?” I poke him in the side.
He chuckles. “Would you even have a problem with that?”
My laughter joins his as I follow him down the stairwell.
At the bottom, it forms a ‘y’, and we hook a right.
A tiny hallway opens into a cavernous underground space with an honest-to-gods river running through the middle.
Dark blue water is faintly illuminated from lights somewhere below the surface.
Half a dozen brightly painted rowboats are tied up along the edge of a short dock.
“Welcome to one of the Gulch’s best kept secrets,” Furyon says softly. “This underground river system runs beneath all of downtown PG. You can row for hours, and many of the businesses are accessible from down here.”
My mouth drops open as I look from him to the tied-up boats and back. “Are you serious? How have I never seen the boats the entire time I’ve been here?!”
He laughs, the dark, delicious sound curling my toes.
“The Gulch isn’t boastful and ostentatious, Lemon.
We’re all about hidden gems and fanciful surprises.
That’s why it ain’t even on the welcome book list. Some things you really just need to learn like a local.
” He jerks his head toward the boats. “C’mon, baby. ”
I’m in awe as he steps carefully into the boat and offers me his hand.
I hang on to the slatted side as I follow him in.
He helps me down onto a bench seat, then settles across from me.
Grabbing the oars, he slots them through two circular supports, then waves behind me.
“Lemon, grab that rope and cast us off, would ya?”
Turning, I untie the boat from the dock and push us away.
I tuck the rope at the head of the boat.
The…prow? Bow? No idea. Then again, I didn’t even know the Gulch had boats.
I chuckle to myself, shaking my head at how every day brings something new and magical about this place.
Will that ever stop? I feel like I could spend a lifetime in Pine Gulch and learn something new every day.
Furyon rows us out to the middle of the crystal-blue river, and then the current picks up and carries us down a dark stone tunnel that arches high above us. “What’s the giggle for?”
I smile at him, admiring the strong lines of his jaw and the soft wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. “You look like a devil from the human underworld in all this low light. Absolutely delicious.”
His nostrils flare as he grins at me, tiny fangs protruding from his upper lip.
“I could get down with that. Maybe drag a sweet little delicate vampiress down into the depths with me, only to find out that she’s a hunter.
” He leans forward until our knees touch, hovering his mouth over mine.
“And you could hunt me through the underworld. What do you think?”
I think I fucking love the way he paints a sexy picture.
“I love how you do that,” I whisper, lost in the steel blue of his beautiful eyes.
He grins. “Do what?”
“Talk about the way we are.” I reach up to stroke his jawline, down his neck and along his muscular shoulder. “I love how you talk about us.” It feels like an admission, almost an admission of something momentous, something important.
Love. Partnership. Devotion. Obsession.
Because let’s be real. I am soul-deep obsessed with Furyon Zayle, and I don’t care what that means for my return to Rainbow.
If I’m really, really honest with myself…
I don’t miss that much about Rainbow. I miss my girlfriends, Shadow especially.
But that’s about it. Shadow’s mate is from here anyhow so she’ll always be back and forth.
Shit, I think she’s half convinced to move here because Dain is so very compelling.
Furyon grabs my hand and pulls my wrist to his mouth, nipping hard at the inside without looking away from me. He follows the bite with a tender kiss.
“That’s part of why I wanted to show you all this, Lemon.
I know work is crazy, but there will always be something happening.
That’s life. I know when you licked my wound, you didn’t expect to heal me.
” He nips at his lower lip like he’s strongly considering his next words.
“But I’m yours, Lemon. And I want you to be mine for always.
I wanna build something together here, if you’re willing to.
But if you wanna go back to Rainbow, I’m there, city girl.
I got a few suits in my closet from the days before I left the security biz. ”
Tears fill my eyes at his offer.
“I know you would,” I whisper. “But I can’t ask that of you. I don’t see you in Rainbow, surrounded by bright lights and throngs of monsters.”
The way his jaw tightens tells me I’m right—he doesn’t see himself there either.
I drop to my knees between his thighs, resting my hands on his chest. “I want us to build something here too, Furyon. I want that.”
His nostrils flare as he brushes his lips over mine. “Really?”
I nip at his mouth, desperate for more, desperate to get closer. But he’s still holding the oars, and if he loses them, I don’t know how we’ll get back.
“Truly,” I whisper, reaching for his zipper. “Can I show you how much?”
His answering smirk is the only consent I need.
“Don’t drop the oars, country boy.”
“Oh, I got a good handle on my poles, city girl.” He snickers. “I won’t let us get stuck in these tunnels.”
I unzip his jeans, and his cock springs free, long and thickly veined. My fangs ache to bite it, to feel that velvety warmth covered with the sticky heat of his incredible blood.
“You look every inch the predator right now,” he says on a growl. “Fucking take me, Lemon.”
Grinning wickedly, I wave at him. “Take your pants off, Furyon.”